For those with an interest in social media and healthcare, if you missed the #MedicineSocial conference this past weekend, you can follow the convenor, psychiatrist Dr Helen Schultz, as she tweets about it this week at @WePublicHealth. Among the subjects she will cover are cyberstalking and how to deal with trolls. More details of the […]
If you’re interested in startups in health, then it looks like you might want to be in Brisbane this weekend. Up to 100 health entrepreneurs will spend 54 hours formulating and pitching a new health-related business at a Startup Weekend for Health. The event is not for profit and organised by volunteers who have backgrounds […]
By Kellie Bisset RIP copayment As Prime Minister Tony Abbott ended ongoing criticisms of the government’s GP copayment proposal by declaring it “dead, buried and cremated”, health groups warned that the sting might just be in the tail. A Medicare rebate freeze until 2018 might save $1.3 […]
By Kellie Bisset Co-payments, COAG and cutting costs The release of the COAG Reform Council’s final health report could not have been more timely, given the ongoing Budget fallout and debate around the proposed $7 co-payment. Newly elected AMA president Dr Brian Owler said the report, which showed that 12% of people in disadvantaged […]
Melissa Davey Once you’re done with the Health Wrap, be sure to check out this Croakey round-up of health news to make you smile. What about the children? Regulation of alcohol advertising is failing to properly protect children and adolescents, and in some cases is enabling their exposure to alcohol advertising, according to […]
By Kellie Bisset Battling the booze As the fallout from Schoolies week hit many families across the nation, the debate turned once again to alcohol use by young people and how we might best be able to prevent harm. Professor John Toumbourou from Deakin University argued the case for price increases and discussed the […]
By Kellie Bisset Putting the social determinants of health front and centre The impact of social disadvantage on healthcare and other important ‘downstream’ factors was a focus of the past fortnight as Australia marked Anti Poverty Week. This piece on Croakey from Marie McInerney pulls together the findings from Anti Poverty Week research reports […]
By Kellie Bisset Can we avoid going to climate hell in a handbasket? As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Fifth Assessment Report, warning that preventive steps are critical to address climate warming, Australia’s newly axed Climate Commission re-emerged as the Climate Council after a lightening speed community fund-raising drive that […]
By Kellie Bisset Election fever – or is that malaise? As Australia goes to the polls, we are slightly more enlightened about the major parties’ approaches to health than we were two weeks ago. But many in health have pointed out during this campaign that their hopes for in-depth discussion and innovative ideas on the […]
As you may have seen, Croakey has launched @WePublicHealth, a rotated curated Twitter account, as a little experiment in citizen journalism meets public health. Hopefully it will be of interest to Croakey readers, contributors, public health professionals, journalists and community members – really anyone, anywhere with an interest in using Twitter to explore public health […]